Daniel, Chapters 2-4, verses 1-3: BIBLE, New American Standard Bible == BIBLE-CENTRE

Daniel, Chapter 2

¹ Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar^ahad dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep^bleft him. ² Then the king^cgave orders to call in the^dmagicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the^eChaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. ³ The king said to them, “I^fhad a dream and my spirit^gis anxious to^hunderstand the dream.”

⁴ Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king inⁱAramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁵ The king replied to the Chaldeans, “^jThe command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be^ktorn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. ⁶ But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁸ The king replied, “I know for certain that you are^lbargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that^mthe command from me is firm, ⁹ that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only oneⁿdecree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt^owords before me until the^psituation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” ¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered^qthe king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter^rfor the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any^smagician, conjurer or Chaldean. ¹¹ Moreover, the thing which the king demands is^tdifficult, and there is no one else who could declare it^uto the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

¹² Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³ So the^vdecree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to^wkill them.

¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s^xbodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; ¹⁵ he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the^ydecree from the king so^zurgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. ¹⁶ So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would^aagive him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, ¹⁸ so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; ²⁰ Daniel said,“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.

²¹“It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and^abestablishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men
And knowledge to^acmen of understanding.

²²“It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him.

²³“To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

²⁴ Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me^adinto the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

²⁵ Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel^aeinto the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the^afexiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” ²⁶ The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷ Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers,^agmagicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. ²⁸ However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the^ahlatter days. This was your dream and the visions^aiin your mind while on your bed. ²⁹ As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts^ajturned to what would take place^akin the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. ³⁰ But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom^alresiding in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may^amunderstand the thoughts of your^anmind.

³¹ “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and^aoof extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. ³² The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ You^apcontinued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed^aqall at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. ³⁷ You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the^arkingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; ³⁸ and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.

³⁹ After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.

⁴⁰ Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. ⁴¹ In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with^ascommon clay. ⁴² As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. ⁴³ And in that you saw the iron mixed with^atcommon clay, they will combine with one another^auin the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.

⁴⁴ In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be^avleft for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place^awin the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and^axfragrant incense. ⁴⁷ The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king^aypromoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief^azprefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ And Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s^bacourt.

Daniel, Chapter 3

¹ Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty^acubits and its width six^bcubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. ² Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ³ Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you^cthe command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every^dlanguage, ⁵ that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute,^elyre,^ftrigon,^gpsaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. ⁶ But whoever does not fall down and worship shall^himmediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.” ⁷ Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute,ⁱlyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every^jlanguage fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

⁸ For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and^kbrought charges against the Jews. ⁹ They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute,^llyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹ But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. ¹² There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute,^mlyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you willⁿimmediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. ¹⁷ ^oIf it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire;^pand He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered^qby giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. ²¹ Then these men were tied up in their^rtrousers, their^scoats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. ²² For this reason, because the king’s^tcommand was^uurgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. ²³ But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.

²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.” ²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire^vwithout harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!” ²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. ²⁷ The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no^weffect on^xthe bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their^ytrousers^zdamaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him,^aaviolating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” ³⁰ Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

Daniel, Chapter 4, verses 1-3

¹ ^aNebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every^blanguage that live in all the earth: “May your^cpeace abound! ² It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me.

“How great are His signs
And how mighty are His wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom
And His dominion is from generation to generation.


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